But the executive is hardly the only one projecting big things for the Brazilian youngster.

“I know who else is out there, and I know who’s the king of the other organization, and if I had to bet, I would bet that Dantas could win that fight,” Rebney told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

That “king” is UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, the gold standard and seemingly unbeatable 135-pound champion of the UFC. But following Dantas’ title victory over Zach Makovsky – which took place this past weekend at Bellator 65 in Atlantic City, N.J. – Rebney believes Cruz could soon have some company atop the division’s rankings.

“Right now, honestly – and I’m not over-amped – I don’t think there’s anybody in the world who beats him at 135 pounds right now,” Rebney said.

There’s a growing chorus of MMA fans and insiders who are echoing those sentiments following Dantas’ April 13 victory. Which, of course, is all the more amazing when you consider that Bellator signed Dantas only after manager Andre Pederneiras pitched him as a sort of packaged deal with Marlon Sandro.

Dantas, who began training with the Nova Uniao camp when he was just 13 years old, now has won seven straight fights. Most impressively, Rebney said, is how the Brazilian has looked in combating the wrestling skills of his two most recent opponents.

“He’s an extremely dominant, very large fighter with great range and incredible strikes,” Rebney said. “He uses his feet brilliantly, his jiu-jitsu is as good as you’re going to find at 135 pounds right now … and he also has one thing you don’t see in a lot of Brazilian fighters, which is that he has great wrestling-takedown defense.

“I don’t know who beats him here or anywhere else.”

One could easily argue that Bellator is unlikely to find competition better than what Dantas has already faced in the promotion. Drawing comparisons to Bellator champion Hector Lombard and UFC champs Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre, Rebney agrees Dantas could prove to be a longtime titleholder in the promotion.

But is that a bad thing? Is having one fighter who’s head and shoulders above his peers a negative?

“I think the reality is that sometimes you get special talent that is so good … that it doesn’t make them less special that no one can provide a viable challenge to them,” Rebney said. “And he’s only 23 years old.

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